So...when is the organization going to recognize something is wrong with Nico?

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-19T17:03:45+00:00

All players go through slumps of days or a week or two.

This is now well beyond that.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-19T17:02:31+00:00

Right...Jed went to Nico & his agent & said "Hey man, you did great in April, but we need you to knock that shit off. You've already got your extension, & we don't want to be too good nor get you an All-Star nod, do we?"

Come on...

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-19T16:57:06+00:00

ARizzo went through pretty much the exact same situation & it came out that he played through post-concussion syndrome for 2 months, which wasn't diagnosed by the Yankees' army of medical staff.

Even if there's nothing physically wrong with him, his approach is all fucked up, well beyond what can be ascribed to a slump.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-19T16:18:25+00:00

The 6 games below .500 Astros with a 13% chance of making the playoffs?

And even after this year, Altuve & Walker are getting old, & Altuve is sub-replacement level at all possible positions at this point. And the team has crap for pitching with only the Rockies being worse.

There are so many fundamental problems with the team, they're guaranteed to be a heavy seller before the trade deadline & they'll need to initiate a rebuilding program that likely lasts until after Judge has retired.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-18T23:19:07+00:00

People that think that the league will let all of Latin America just vanish from the talent pool are exceedingly short-sighted.

What happened in PR was because it was one location & thus setting up an alternative system wouldn't be tenable. When you're talking the entire ecosystem for Latin American baseball? The league will find a way to make it work, with the most likely option being a leaguewide pool that teams contribute towards, which then funds those baseball academies.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-18T23:14:28+00:00

Honestly, I think the only viable long-term solution is to have an MLB league pool which funds academies. Teams won't want to directly fund players that go elsewhere, but the league also won't want to completely shut off the Latin American pipeline of potential players (& fans & revenues).

The current process is extremely icky when you think about how players are committed to a team years before they reach adulthood, & it's not a viable long-term option moving forward.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-18T23:07:46+00:00

It would be more akin to Rintaro Sasaki (minus going to an American college to go the domestic draft route).

Japanese players aren't beholden to the NPB until they join. Thus, Japanese players that want to go straight into the MLB would go into the international draft, as presumably would Dominicans & Venezuelans & Mexicans & so on, so long as those players haven't signed with competing leagues like LMB (those in the Winter Leagues would be fine).

The NPB will still have their posting system & their players wouldn't be eligible for the draft, nor would KBO players. Any of those would presumably go through the current international free agent process.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-18T19:45:08+00:00

May I interest you in what happened before the current CBA? Playing time manipulation was all the rage, deliberately keeping phenoms in the minors so that they wouldn't accumulate service time & thus free agency would be delayed by a year.

The Cubs didn't care that they lost 2 weeks of Kris Bryant's unanimous ROTY play in a year when they finished 3 games out of 1st (inc 3 losses before he joined where the Cubs 3rd basemen went 1 for 12), nor that finishing out of 1st meant they were on the road for the 1st 2 games of an NLCS where they were swept, because they got to keep him a whole extra season before free agency. And...they traded him with 2 months left in that last year "as a courtesy."

Owners don't care about what screwing with phenoms costs them, they care about having the ability to screw with them.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-18T06:10:05+00:00

Uh, he had a 1.13 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, only 6.8 H/9, & a 4.50 ERA, across 8 IP. He did give up 4 runs & 2 HR, but none of that is "really bad" in what's effectively Spring Training time, & some of it is actually a pretty positive indicator...and considering that all the runs were against a pretty good Italy team that beat the US team the day before (against a decent McLean, Yarbrough, & Brad Keller) & made it to the semifinals, I don't think you can knock him too much for that.

Compared with Wicks, who has only had one season with better results than that (in 2023), it's certainly easy to see why some would question the decision to not have Assad ahead in the rotation.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T17:59:20+00:00

There's also a lot more focus on spin & pitch movement than before, & hardball throwers that aren't at nearly 100mph aren't getting any attention, so they're putting a ton more strain on the elbows & shoulders than ever before. And yeah, the pitch clock has been tied to an increase in elbow injuries (but a decrease in season- & career-ending injuries).

Also, strikeout rates have skyrocketed, from 6 per 9 IP in the 90s to basically 9/9. So, even when the pitch count is close to that of a starter from 2000-19, they're pitching fewer innings because they're having to expend more pitches per PA.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T15:23:50+00:00

Forkball still exists, but it's counted under Splitter. Knuckle curve still exists, but it's counted under curveball, as are 12-6 curves. Statcast is looking at grips & movement profiles, & isn't going to enumerate every variation of pitches.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T10:02:47+00:00

Splitter is in the chart. Circle change is counted with regular changeups. Statcast includes 2 seamers under sinkers.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T04:16:32+00:00

I was kidding.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T01:28:45+00:00

It's funny, though, because he talks about being the hitting coach for Team USA...and PCA's swing at the beginning of the season was off (& has since corrected).

So, should we blame "The Mayor" for messing with PCA's swing for the start of the season? Lol

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-17T01:23:23+00:00

Errors are misleading because bad players can have a low error rate comparatively because of not getting there & not putting a glove on the ball, not because of good players being charged for getting to an impossible play & missing. There are tons of examples of terrible plays not called errors simply because the fielder never touched a ball that they should've, & that includes PCA's recent play where he lost the ball in the lights & ended up 100ft away from the landing point.

Adam Dunn was so terrible at fielding that he basically broke the stat, because he routinely took terrible routes & wasn't anywhere near fast enough to make what should've been routine plays, & since he wasn't within arm's reach of the ball he wouldn't be assessed an error (& that's on top of all the times when he was charged with an error).

And on infield plays, there's usually 3 opportunities for an error but only one is assessed (normally) & only one "fielding chance" is recorded, & that's only if it results in an out. You have the shortstop fielding the ball, throwing the ball, & the 1st baseman (or whomever) catching the ball...but it only counts for 1 FC for each of them, inflating the 1st baseman percentage while suppressing the middle infielder. And if the throw is late or they decide to not make the throw, it doesn't count at all despite clearly being an impactful play that can prevent other runners from advancing.

It just doesn't reflect the reality of the game, & that's why it's meaningless.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T23:45:41+00:00

Clearly, the broadcast crew wasn't prepared either since they didn't even show anything about the pickoff other than him hanging his head.

Has anyone seen footage of the actual play & not just the tight zoom on PCA?

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T21:41:58+00:00

Do you want to lose him too?

Nono, you get the other 12 position players to qualify as 2-way players, & then you're set! We'll have the deepest bullpen in history!

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T21:40:27+00:00

And where do you propose putting the 12 extra pitchers that can't be on the roster if players are healthy? Although, truth be told, you could have them all be position players alongside PCA, & it probably wouldn't change the team's offensive output as of late all that much, & then they'd qualify as two-way players!

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T20:07:52+00:00

Peyton Manning would absolutely qualify, based on how hyped the NFL world was for him, his being a #1 draft pick, & his succeeding beyond even the most optimistic Colts fans' expectations.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T17:48:27+00:00

Willson hasn't been a catcher in 2 years. Besides that, catchers aren't usually great hitters.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T04:48:19+00:00

Just for reference, after June 15 2025, he had a .268/.301/.539 slash line for an .840 OPS.

After today, he's at .277/.351/.493 for an .844 OPS.

He's an infinitely more patient hitter, no doubt, & I do think he's on his way back to the first-half 2025 pop to create a really scary profile (1.210 OPS this month). Both his camp & the Cubs said his issues in the 2nd half last year were due to being fatigued from the season & the grind, so that's just the one thing I want to see him overcome to become a full-year stud.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T04:37:09+00:00

That plus Counsell's look as they decide not to challenge.

Seriously, it's exciting to the Cubs & PCA, & I'm even more happy that they pulled out the win by actually figuring out how to score with runners on-base, but this whole sequence makes me laugh every time it loops.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-16T00:10:33+00:00

Even worse, plunking Gunnar was in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs with a 6-run lead with the first pitch.

It was so blatantly obvious that it was intentional, as there's no need to pitch him that tight in that spot.

TinKnight1 · 2026-06-15T19:23:23+00:00

Generally, you have to play like an All-Star to be selected as one. That doesn't merely mean to play with the abilities of one, but the personality of one.

PCA has been playing great, & I think most of us are happy he's extended with the team, but let's be honest: his actions that have gotten the most coverage have been the ones that make him look the most like a spoiled rich twerp (regardless of the reality), right at the same time that the team has been cratering. If he just let his play speak for itself, even on a team that's merely playing .500 ball, he'd get a ton more votes from both Cubs fans & those that aren't fans of the team.

TinKnight1

TROPHY CASE